Audi settled a class action suit regarding failed timing belts on 97-99 A4 sedan or Avant 1.8Ts. (No other 1.8T models) Without admitting anything, Audi agreed to reimburse anyone who had engine damage due to a failed timing belt prior to the settlement date of July 15, 2005. You did not have to be the original owner either. The bad news, you had to file by July 31, 2005. The suit was filed a couple years back and Audi contacted all known owners ahead of time. As stated, the filing date is past, but If you didn't get notified you may still be able to submit a claim if you had engine damage due to a timing belt failure. Everyone is suppose to send in a card to Audi when you buy a used one, its in the owners or maintenance manual, but there may be some exceptions.
Oh yea, they extended the warranty for engine damage due to timing belt failure to 105,000, no time limit. Again, you don't have to be the original owner. That’s nice, but there is a catch. As of July 15 2005, the settlement date, there is a revised maintenance schedule that you must follow to be eligible. In addition to the every 5K service, etc, you now MUST check, and replace as needed, the timing belt at 40K and 80K. In addition, you must have your timing belt checked, and replaced if necessary, within 1000 miles of you next scheduled service. If it is checked and service says it needs replaced, that’s your expense not Audi's, but they will check it for free.
Sooo.... If your car has 88K miles on it (like someone I know), you need to get the timing belt check, and replaced if needed, within 1000 miles of your 90K service. If it breaks and trashes your engine in the mean time, Audi pays; if it last until the scheduled service, you pay to replace it. I think that’s why Audi recommends you get it checked right away, don't wait for the next service. There is no chance a service tech is going to tell you it doesn't need replaced. So the 105K warranty extension is really only good until your next scheduled service (every 5K on 1.8T I believe).
Basically Audi ended up getting nailed, not for having a bad timing belt design, but for not telling owners it was bad (turns out they knew
) and that it needes to be check before 90K that is stated in tbe manual.
One more caution: Above is my layperson's summary of a two-plus year court case. I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. Do your own research and get the facts first hand.
You can contact the law firm that won the case at
AudiA4settlement@bm.net (Ted Millstein, Berger & Montague), they will send you a pdf of the settlement, service schedule update, and a letter from Audi telling you the good news. B&M
http://www.bergermontague.com/ is a big Philli firm and this is not their top priority, so don't expect instant feedback. It is not even listed on their website, but I did ping the webmaster, so maybe he'll add it.(Again, I'm not a lawyer, but I think if you do this, you may be considered legally notified.) The newspaper article was in the Boston Globe and written by Bruce Mohl. The Globe will let you read it about 3 times before they want you to register (or clear your cookies).
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/07/17/class_action_can_be_engine_of_change/ Wow, that made my head hurt.... I'm taking tomorrow off.
